Best way to handle passwords using CI library?

[eluser]wiredesignz[/eluser]
Mine is almost identical to xwero

Code:

function try_login($attempt)    //$attempt is an object
{        
    if ($attempt->password)    
    {
        //find user, check password & create cookie if valid
        if ($user = $this->users->findBy("`username` = '{$attempt->username}'") AND $attempt->password == $this->encrypt->decode($user->password))    
        {
            set_cookie('ci_user', $user->uid, 0); //cookie expires on browser close
            if ($attempt->remember) set_cookie('ci_login', $user->uid, 86500);
            return TRUE;
        }
    }
    return FALSE;
}